Easy Father’s Day Cards with Style!

Are these the cutest Father’s Day cards, or what??! My friend, Kindergarten teacher Lori Dueck, shared this project with me years ago and I was amazed by how adorable every finished card turned out! A project this good never goes out of style!

Most projects for Kindergarten include a bit of prep and this one is no exception, but it’s pretty quick and totally worth it!! The ties are painted with watercolor and the effects are fabulous…. any one of these designs would make a great tie for real! Only the “knot” of the tie is glued down, so when you lift the tie, it says, “Happy Father’s Day! Love, (child’s name)”.

Start with a piece of 9×12 construction paper in the color of your choice. We used gray because it makes a nice background for most any color tie, but use whatever you have!

1. Cut two horizontal slits, one on each side, each 1-1/4″ down from the top and 2-1/4″ long (see diagram below). Then make two tiny marks at the top, 3″ from each edge. At these 3″ marks, fold the two flaps in toward the center and down at a slight angle so the corners meet to form the “collar”. 
2. Students will need a piece of white construction paper with the outline of a tie traced or photocopied onto it. (To make your tie symmetrical, you can make a template by folding a piece of 9-1/2″ x 3″ paper in half. Then use a ruler to draw your diagonal lines, and cut the tie shape from the folded paper. Open your template and lay it on some construction paper or watercolor paper and trace around it.)
3. This is a great opportunity to demo some watercolor techniques for your kinders…. painting lines for stripes, making dots, swirls, and flowers and some wet on wet painting for soft, fuzzy edges. Then turn them loose to create!
4. When the ties are dry, let students practice using their scissors to cut them out (resist the urge to do this for them!) and glue the knot under the collar, leaving the rest of the tie unglued. Now fold the tie up at the base of the knot and have students write “Happy Father’s Day! Love, (their name)” on the back of the tie. Finally, use some white glue and a Q-tip (or a cheap paint brush) to glue some buttons on the collar and under the tie.

I was so excited about how wonderful these ties looked that I didn’t even notice as half of the students wrote, “Happy Father’s Dad” on the back (see picture below)! One of my favorite things about kids’ artwork is the authenticity of it, so resist the urge to fix things and just let any “mistakes” be part of the charm!